Vacuum cleaner



Oct. 31, 1939. G. D. WELLES El AL 2,177,969.

new! CLEANER Filed 'July 22, 1936 y 2 smug-she t 1 11v VENTQR 5 7 I BY v AT y a mwzm Oct. 31;, 1939- s. D. WELLES ET 1. 1 2,177,969

' VACUUM CLEANER Filed July 22. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet g INVENTOR e47. VIM,

' Patented Oct. 31,1939

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE anee o of Delaware Application Jil 22, 1936, Serial 4 (mum. (01. 15-16 This invention relates to vacuum cleaners of V the type haying two suction inlets, one communicating with the floor tool and the other communicating with a hollow suction handle adapted to swing verticallywithout imposing strain upon the dust collecting bag supported beneath it.

The invention contemplates the pivoting of the hollow handle on a transverse horizontal axis and the provision of a sliding joint between the end of the hollow handle and its suction inlet which sliding joint is disposed on. an arc,.con- 'centric with said pivotal axis, the parts being so' arranged that the suction inlet and the open- 15 ing in the end of the handle will register when the handle is in position for using the hollow handle as a suction tube.

Further objects will appear'in the perusal of the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawngs, in. which:

Fig. 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, of one form of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

the invention, I v

Fig. 4 is avdetail sectional view of the handle joint thereof, I p

Fig. 5 isa side elevation of another modification of the invention, I y Y Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-8 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. '7. is a side elevation of a further modification of the invention.

The invention in its several forms comprises generally a suction producing unit l0 having the suction inlets and I2 communicating respectively with the floortool I3 and hollow handle l4. The unit "I also has adischarge outlet l5 communicating with the dust collecting apparatus which latter comprises a porous. paper inner bag It and a porous outer bag I! of relatively strong material such ascloth or perforated composition material.

In the form shown in Fig. 1,. the hollow handle I4 is provided with trunnions i8 pivoted in'a pair of ears I! formed on a bracket 2|. The bracket 20 is secured to the upper .end of the discharge delivery tube 2| which in turn is rigidly mounted in the exhaust outlet l5.

The lower end of the handle I is provided with a mouth member 22, the end 01 which is arcuately'iormed ooaxially with the trunnions 55 I8, .and slidingly coacts with the inner face 23 of Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of on, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation a hood 2! formed on the inlet II. The face 28 also is coaxial with the trunnions l8.

Suction is applied to the floor tool I! or to the hollow handle ll selectively by means of a valve 2!. Normally the suction is applied to the floor -6 tool I! and cut oil from the handle, and the oper- ,ator in moving the machine back and forth grasps the upper end 2' of the handle which may swing vertically to compensate for changes in the vertical-position oi the operator's hand during nor- 10 mal back and forth movement of the cleaner, the load being supported on front wheels 2l-and rear wheels 28 during such operation.

Since the range of vertical movement required toaccommodate the natural swing of the operators arm is relatively small, the movement allowed to the handle by the hood N which exerts a limiting eilect thereon will sufllce. v The operator may, it she desires, rigidity the handle relative to thesuction unit ID by pushing in on the loclrscrew 2! against the action of the coil spring 30, and threading its inner end into a threaded opening ii in the mouth member 22 of the handle. Thescrew 29 is slidably mounted in a boss 32 formed in one side of the hood 24. Normally the screw 2! is held in anvinoperative position by the spring 30. This locking structure is applied as well to the modifications shown in Figs.3,5,and"lt The operator, after having rlgiditled the handle, may lift the wheels 28 oil thefloor and tilt the overhanging nozzle portion 33 of the floor tool I! toward or from the carpet as may be def sired for facilitating the cleaning eflect.

when the handle is locked, the mouthfl-is 35 in registry with the inletll. The locking means anauxiliarytoolsuchasswallcleaning tool or a flexible extension hose. 7

In the form shown in Fig. 3, the trunnlons Ila are mounted directly on the mouth portion 22.

Thesliding joint between the mouth and the in? 4 p let no in this case will-be curved on a much shorter radius. The bag in this case is not at tached to the handle, but is supported on rods II in the upper edges of the outer bag I! which rods are adapted to be clipped into spring'clips 9 30 mounted on the delivery tube Ila. Thus the handle may be swung while the bag remains in a fixed position relative to the suction unit II.

'lheiormshowninl'lgfissimilarto that just described. except that in this casc'the bag is 56 supported upon two rods 35a which are directly mounted in the outlet lSa of the fan case. The inner bag lia (Fig. 6) is doubled back upon itself to form two attached bag sections each of which has its own inlet rieck 31. The exhaust outlet iia branches into two separate outlets to which the necks 31 are respectively attached.

The sections of the bag l6a are separated by a V-shaped separator 38 of foraminous material such as wire screen so that air may escape from both sides of each section of the bag. The sepator I8 is mounted on rods 39 which are mounted in the outlet l5a. The rods 39 are spaced sufflciently to allow the handle I 4 to move downwardly between them, so that the bag does not interfere with normal vertical swinging of the handle.

In the form shown in Fig. '7, the bag I! is supported on rods 35 which are mounted in a go bracket 40 on the handle and a retractable latch ll also mounted on the handle. The bracket 40 also serves to carry the free end of a flexible tube 42 which provides communication between the exhaust I5 and the inner bag it. The neck of the bag ll is'coupled to the tube 42 by means of a coupling 0.

It will now be seen that in this form of the in vention the bag swings with the handle, strains on the neck of the bag being relieved by the bracket 40. which forces the coupling 43 to move in unison with the handle, all flexing being taken up in the tube 42.

The siding joint between the handle and inlet I! may be successfully used in connection with a suction inlet where itwould notbe successful in connection with a discharge outlet. Leakage in the one case would result only in slight loss of suction owing to the air entering the inlet throughthe Joint, whereas, leakage in the other case would result in blowing dust into the atmosphere.

We claim' as our invention:

1. In a vacuum cleaner, a suction producing unit including an inlet and an outlet, both directedrearwardly, a handle pivoted to said unit for swinging in a vertical longitudinal plane, and having an arcuate sliding connection between its lower end and said inlet concentric with the handle pivot, and dust collecting mechanism attached to said outlet, means to rigidly support said collector on said unit, said dust collector including two side-by-side sections separated at their upper edges to form a space in which said handle may be received, said arcuate sliding connection permitting the swinging of the handle relative to said collector without flexing the latter.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a suction producing unit having an exhaust outlet and having a jacent each other and adapted to be connected,

to the adjacent plural outlets of the fan case of the cleaner.

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a fan case having side-by-side plural outlets, and a dust collecting bag comprising two upwardly projecting sections integrally connected by a bottom fold, each section having in its upper forward corner, remote from the fold, an inlet neck, said two necks lying adjacent each other and adapted to be connected to the adjacentplural outlets of the fan case of the cleaner.

GEORGE D. WELLES. .FREDERICK RIEBEL, JR. 

